Territory



(No Model.)

J. THOMAS.

ROLLING MILL.

"No. 252,911. Patented Jan. 31,1882.

b f/wmmm/ Y y Warren STATE ATENT @rrrce.

JAMES THOMAS, OF LARAMIE CITY, WYOMING TERRITORY.

ROLLlNG -MiLL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 252,911, dated January 31, 1882,

Application filed September 12,1881. (No model.)

I 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES THOMAS, ofLaramie City, in the county of Albany and Territory of \Vyoming, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the art of Rolling Railroad-Rails, of which the following is a specification.

The invention has reference to rolling-mills for reducing old rails, flanged bars, the fag end of rails, 850., to bars of merchantable iron of any desired shape.

It has for its object to reduce two rails united together as a pile, independently of scrap-iron or fiat bars, at one heat, by means of roughingrolls suitably grooved.

The invention consists in forming the first and second grooves of a series of rolls in such manner that two rails can be secured together, operated upon, welded, and reduced to a bar of any desired size and form at one heat. The first groove is formed'nearly square, and is of suitable size to receive the body of metal contained in the two rails when laid side by side with the head of one rail resting against the top of the bottom flange of the other, although presenting a smaller opening than the pe'riphcry of said rails. The sides of the grooveare oblique to the axis of therolls, so that-pressure is distributed over the whole mass of the rails, and in the top and bottom of the groove obtained betwecntwo of the rollsareiormedlarge fillets, against which the outer flange of each rail may register, and by the action of which it isbent over and compressed against the web or stem of the rail. The inner flange of each rail forming the pile overlaps the head of the other rail, and is compressed against it by the oblique sides of the groove, shortening the height of the web and making a solid welded billetor bar. Therounded tread-surface of the head of therails beingthus at the pointofjunction of the rolls protects that point, so that there is no danger of the metal being worked out of the groove on each side thereof. The second groove, which is preferably formed directly over the first groove between the top and middle roll, is also formed with fillets at the top and bottom, and conforms more nearly than the first groove to the shape of a square, so that after a pass through it the bar or billet is ready to enter the third groove, which is of the rails after passing through the first groove} Fig. 4 is asimilar view of the rails turned half over to enter the second groove.

A, B, and O are respectively the top, mid- .dle, and bottom rolls of the series, having their bearingsiu the standards E F. The first groove, a, is formed between the middle and bottom rolls, its sides being oblique to the axis of the rolls. At the top and bottom of this groove the angles are filled and rounded at a (t the function of which is to bend to one side the projecting flanges e f of the two rails e f and compress them against their stems. tion of the two rails, as applied to the groove, is shown in dotted lines in Fig.1. The opposite flanges of each rail partly overlap the head or tread-surface of the other rail, and in the pass are worked against it, as seen in .Fig. 3. As will be seen from the drawings, there is no danger of the metal working out and forming a fin at the junction of the rolls. The first pass of the rails will weld the two into a solid billet of the appearance shown in Fig.3. The billet is then turned half over,'so as to bring the round corners 6 f in a horizontal plane, and prevent the formation of fins when passed through the second groove, 0, formed directly above thefirstgroove. Thesidesof thisgroove are approximately of equal size, the rib b on the top roll projecting into the groove, and thus nearly squaring it.

The posi- .9 After a pass through this groove the billet is ready for the third and fourth grooves, Which are of ordinary construction, and are designed to reduce the billet or bar to a square or other desired form.

It will be seen that by this invention two rails can be reduced at a single heat, without the addition of any small barsto square the pile, to bars for inerchantable iron of any desired shape, and by the formation of the top roll, A, with the rib b the second groove can be made directly over and smaller than the first,

ICC

groove, (1, formed between the bottom and-middle roll approximately square, with its angles a. and a tilled and rounded, as described, and the second groove, 1), formed between the top and middle roll, its sides being made equal, or approximately so, by the projecting rib b of the top roll, A, substantially as and for the pur- 2o poses specified.

JAMES THOMAS.

'Witnesses:

G130. F. NooK, W. W. ALEXANDER. 

